


Date Night

by widowshulk



Series: Age of Ultron Countdown [17]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-06-03
Packaged: 2018-04-02 18:02:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4069447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/widowshulk/pseuds/widowshulk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha and Bruce take a night for themselves and they both realise how much they've come to care for one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Date Night

**Author's Note:**

> As part of a countdown leading up to Age of Ultron, I wrote 18 short fics, from prompts, over 18 days.
> 
> Day Seventeen. Based on the prompt "Glad you came + Things you said when we were on top of the world"

“Hey doc,” Natasha said, walking into his lab. She bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Agent Romanoff,” Bruce replied, checking around him to make sure they were alone. “Natasha.”

“You know they don’t care, right?” she said, sitting next to him.

“Who don’t care about what?”

“The team. About us. They’ve got their own stuff to deal with. They’re not going to kick you out for calling me by my name. What are you working on, anyway?” she asked, looking at his screen.

“Hulkbuster, we think we’ve got it perfected now.”

“Hopefully there won’t be any more glitches like last time.” Natasha laughed as she remembered Stark being thrown over the side of the Tower and Falcon having to swoop down to save him.

“That wasn’t really funny.”

“I have a sick sense of humour. Are you going to be doing a test run or something to make sure?” 

“Probably sometime next week. Pepper made him take the weekend off.”

“Maybe I should do the same with you.”

“And what would we do?”

“I’m sure we can think of something,” Natasha said with a wink. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Bruce took her hand and they went to his living room. She grabbed Bruce’s tablet from the couch, and started flicking through it. Bruce knew better than to interrupt when she had her thinking face on.

“How about a cheesy rom-com and then some of New York’s finest pizza?” she asked after a few minutes of browsing.

“Sounds perfect. When?” 

“We leave in half an hour. I’m going to change.”

\--

“How about you sleep here tonight?” Bruce asked, as they got back to his floor.

After a night of fun with Natasha, he wasn’t ready to go back to being alone. Not quite yet.

“Just to sleep?”

He nodded.

“Sure. You don’t snore do you?” she teased.

\--

There was none of the awkwardness that they’d both expected as they settled into bed. Their bodies fit together surprisingly well. Natasha dropped off before Bruce even really felt tired; he was still on a high from their date night. He thought about his life here, in New York, about how he had finally found somewhere to belong. He wouldn’t admit it to himself, but he was actually happy, for the first time in a long time. Of course, the beautiful woman in his arms was a big part of that. He knew he’d be too embarrassed to tell her how important she was to him, but since she was asleep, what could it hurt?

“Thank you, Natasha,” he whispered. “For such clarity. I can finally see myself as a man and not a monster. I can see myself through your eyes, and this Bruce is one I like. A lot more than I thought I could. You are… you are an incredible woman and I can’t imagine a world in which I don’t have you by my side. Goodnight and sweet dreams.” He kissed her bare shoulder.

Natasha felt tears in her eyes, but she couldn’t do anything about it. If he knew that she was awake, he would be so humiliated and after all the lovely things he’d just said, she couldn’t do that to him. _You’re not the only one with clarity now_ , she thought, feeling overwhelmingly grateful to Clint for bringing her to SHIELD and to Fury for letting her become a part of this team. It was as if everything was falling into place.

That night, they both fell asleep at peace and smiling.


End file.
